Love In It's Own Way

Hours has passed since Lucretia hovered herself under her blanket, pretending to be asleep. The room was extremely quiet and she needed no one to tell her Linsey and Anita had long retired to their beds. The day had been leisurely boring and hectic for them especially Anita and she wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep. So she slept over as usual.

With the serene environment being evident that everyone was fast asleep, Lucretia pulled the blanket away from her head, starring at the ceiling as she just smiled from ear to ear. She could barely keep up with the fact that Philip asked her to be his prom. After this long years of waiting but then, she felt insecured. "What if he changes his mind again?" The thought crept up in her mind. "I should rather not rush things. I have waited for this long, I can still wait." She urged herself on. But then another part of her thought otherwise, leaving her in a desperate dilemma.

She kept tossing and turning on the bed, brooding over her decision and didn't even noticed when she finally fell asleep.

Kriinngg.....

A continuous agitating ring from the alarm clock on the drawer beside her bed coupled with a chaotic movements of feets and objects made Lucretia jerked up from bed.

"Morning– sleepy head." Linsey hastily muttered to her as she rushed off to the washroom.

"Good morning Lin," She replied, glancing through the glass window. The morning sun was brightly up, hitting it's rays hard on the earth's surface. With it's piercing and striking heat finding it's way through the window. Lucretia instinctively winced, turning her gaze back to the room. "Why didn't anybody wake me up?" She scaled off the bed, tossing the blanket aside.

"You should say that to the walls." Anita commented wittily as she got into her uniform and Lucretia scoffed. "But tell me Luc," Anita added hastily. "What kept you up so late?" She queried, quite sceptical but Lucretia snobbed and hurried off to the washroom. Getting to the door, she slapped a heavy knock on it. "Open up Lin." She shouted.

"Give me some few minutes. I'm not done here." Linsey's voice echoed from the other side of the door.

"Come on Linsey, just open up. There's no time to spare. We...." She was still rumbling when the door flew open, cutting her off. Without another word, she slightly shoved Linsey aside and rushed into the washroom. Linsey shook her head and sauntered over to her wardrobe.

Within the next 20mins, Lucretia was done. She returned to the room in a haste to meet it in a little mess. Shoes scattered on the floor and books spread all over the bed with Linsey and Anita kneeling over it. "Have you seen my Literature Textbook and project work?" Linsey questioned on seeing Lucretia. "Today is the last day of presentation and Mrs. Louise is going to skin me alive if I'm not able to send it on time. Not to even talk about the marks I'm going to lose." She added.

"Oh, guess I saw it somewhere." Lucretia replied thoughtfully as she shuffled over to the wardrobe. "Ah yeah, I think I saw it beneath the drawer beside my bed." She added as she pulled opened the drawer, taking out her uniform. "You should check there too." She got into her uniform whiles Linsey sauntered over to the drawer Lucretia talked about.

True to what Lucretia said, the textbook and project book were resting peacefully under it. She quickly snatched it with a sigh of relief, making a cross sigh like a nun in the process.

Just then, her mother's voice echoed from the main hall, calling out to them. "We're coming mum–" Linsey shouted as she hastily picked her bag from the bed. Lucretia on the other hand, quickly pulled her hair into a messy bun before shoving her bag over her shoulders. Anita who was long done and had nothing much to do just sprang up. They glanced around and when they were sure they had everything they needed, they trod out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"What was keeping you girls up there?" Linsey's mother asked as they got to the hall but none of them bothered to reply. "We better get going now." She sighed and without hesitation, trailed off to door with the girls following after. "You girls are already late." She added as the walked out of the house.

*****

It was around 9am when their car pulled up in front of the school gates. The school was so quiet with the environment evident enough to tell how late they were. "Can't believe we're so late." Anita uttered as they hastily got out of the car, shoving their bags over their shoulders.

"Alright girls." Mrs. Mark interrupted. "See you in the evening."

"Okay Mrs. Mark." Anita and Lucretia chorused as they hurried off to the gate while Linsey's mother speed off. Walking into the compound, they raced through the corridors to the hall and finally to their Geography class. They were filled with apprehension as they stood behind the closed door, knowing how strict Mr. Bruce was with his time. They took in a deep breath before pushing the door opened. They glided in and to their surprise, he wasn't in. But then, they was an assignment on the board which was the reason behind the quietness in the class. Without wasting another minute, they quickly rushed to their seats on the third row. "Did Mr. Bruce put that on the board?" Lucretia whispered to Chloe, the class president whose desk was right infront of hers.

"Yes.." Chloe whispered over her shoulders without looking back.

"So where is he?" Lucretia continued to ask as she brought out her book and pen from her bag but Chloe just shrugged, not knowing where their teacher went. "I guess he went to the office." She added.

"Oh OK." Lucretia nodded. At that moment, Anita nudged her on the ribs, making her glance deftly at her. "You better concentrate on solving these problems on the board before her walks in." She warned and Lucretia scoffed, turning her gaze back to the assignment on the board.

WASHINGTON DC

Eugene, Philip and Mike sat at the far right corner of the school's cafeteria waiting for the right moment for Eugene to carry out his plans. He had been asking Mimie out for a while now but nothing seems to go his way. All he hoped for now was for things to go as planned. "Are you guys sure this is going to work out?" He queried with anticipation written all over his face.

"Don't worry Eugene." Mike patted his shoulder encouragingly.

Crystal, Jayden and Mimie on the other hand had no idea of whatever plans Eugene had in stock. They sauntered through the hallway to the cafeteria, chatting and giggling. Just as they stepped into the Cafeteria, the whole hall fell instinctively silent making Mimie and her friends stop in their tracks as she lurked around quizzically. "What's going on here?" She whispered to Crystal and she in turn shrugged.

"I..." She mumbled, about to say something but instinctively stopped when she saw Eugene sauntering towards them from a distance with a bouquet of rose flowers in hand.

Mimie noticed the stunned look on Crystal's face with her eyes fixed in the distance. "Hey, what's...." She muttered, following Crystal's gaze but paused in bemusement as she watched Eugene strolled in slow pace towards her. She felt everything instantly froze for a moment.

Just as Eugene got to where Mimie stood, he knelt down before her, presenting the bouquet to her. "Will you be my prom?"